Designed to protect and engineered to preserve, packaging is also there to promote. For that, printing and finishing are the decoration techniques that serve to elevate the presence of products and raise a brand’s profile.
Whilst London Packaging Week provides a perfect platform to learn about the latest trends and witness new developments that are sure to define the packaging landscape for years to come, the event is also a shop window for printers and converters using their hard-earned experience, investment in technology and processes, and understanding of applications and markets, to maximise packaging’s impact on customers.
Whether you need labels, shrink sleeves, stand-up pouches, folding cartons, corrugated boxes, glass bottles or lamitubes, to name a few, printing and finishing are readily available these days. From runs of one up to orders of many thousands, printed using litho, flexo, screen or digital, and personalised, customised or produced in volume, there’s a partner there to serve your every need.
London Packaging Week events cleverly integrate this into the exhibitor mix, with printers and converters rubbing shoulders with the designers, manufacturers and brands themselves to deliver an end-to-end packaging utopia.
2024’s edition will be no different. Below is a smattering of those exhibiting such services for your consideration and delectation.
Shelf-ready packaging
Amberley Labels (F80), which is part of Coveris Group’s specialist non-food labels division, manufactures award-winning, decorative labels for global brands and uses its multi-process print and embellishment technologies to elevate the next wave of brands to a similar position and status. Its processes include flexo, digital and screen printing, as well as the combination of conventional and digital to offer the best of both worlds. A particular focus of the company at London Packaging Week 2024 is its sustainable solutions and brand protection technologies – ecoLux digital variable foil and Amberley Protect respectively.
Peel-and-reveal labels are also offered as an optimal label solution for extended communication and promotional applications, with multi-page labels offering an efficient compact solution that doesn’t compromise space, overall pack size and brand.
Denny Bros (C75) offers concertina and accordion labels as an engaging and cost-effective solution. Leaflet sections can be opened, extended out and, if required, concertinaed then reclosed.
Reynders (H76) provides self-adhesive labels printed with two to eight colours, in different shapes and on different materials.
It also provides shrink sleeves for full-coverage decoration possibilities, which can be used on packaging of almost any size and shape. From more exotically shaped containers to traditional shapes, all can be completely wrapped to provide heightened visibility and functionality to match.
Heat-shrink sleeves from Viscose (C16) are made from flexible thermo-films that can be shrunk onto even the most uniquely shaped containers. They are available in a variety of sustainable films, such as recyclable PET, rPET with 30% recycled content, and industrially compostable PLA. They are printed using a multi-colour gravure process that complements a premium finish with durability.
Global packaging manufacturer DS Smith (G30) produces and prints off-the-shelf cartons through to customised structures. As well as being highly decorated using printing on foil boards, UV printing, embossing, and foiling, specialist closures and advanced finishing such as detailed windowing, die-cuts, folding and gluing are available, as is child-resistant and senior-friendly closures as necessitated by the pharmaceutical industry.
Falconer (E54) incorporates Braille embossing into the pharmaceutical packaging it manufactures. For a host of other folding carton applications, it offers textured finishes, foil blocking, embossing/debossing, and overprintable foils.
Philtone Litho (J36) uses offset litho to turn sheets into high-value boxes that feature sharp, vibrant and consistent colour reproduction. It also offers small format digital printing and the application of cold foils for eye-catching finishing that adds a touch of brilliance and sophistication printed pieces.
Reedbut (C10) uses two-side flexo printing to decorate cartonboard and light corrugated materials, coupling external decals suited for distribution and shipping with highly decorated inside layers that wow and delight the recipient.
Also making a striking impact on its stand with print is Curtis Print & Packaging (F60), mimicking the natural appearance of Kraft material using a standard boxboard to suit those brands after a more subtle look and feel.
France-based Autajon Group’s Packaging Division, which is made up of Simply Cartons, Simply Luxe and Royston Labels, is present on stand H46, where the Nottingham-based carton business will be showing off its capabilities. This includes design and structural engineering, and sheet-fed offset litho printing using cutting-edge presses and decoration using the 100% recyclable EnviraMet foil.
Another with strong sustainability claims to shout about is Castle Colour Packaging (F62), which has recently secured EcoVadis Gold accreditation, rating it within the top 5% of assessed businesses worldwide.
As a supplier of one of the few “permanent materials”, metal packaging specialist Eviosys (G10) has a particularly strong story to tell in terms of sustainability and the environment. This is supported by a variety of ways to decorate metal, whether you require many thousands of items or after promotional tins that are customised.
The above is a small sample of the printing and converting options on show at London Packaging Week 2024. Make sure you take advantage of the opportunity and discover who and how they can elevate your products to the next level with the latest decoration tools and techniques.
This article is part of a series published ahead of London Packaging Week 2024, outlining products, trends and industry developments to look out for at the show.